Bless My Heart | BLESS
BLESS
My heart…
Bless: flourish, thrive, abundance and multiplication.
Blessing: A favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness. The invoking of God’s favor upon a person.
Week 1 Soul Tattoo: Johnny Mitcham
#1 God’s blessings come from trust and obedience.
#2 Bless or Curse, our choice.
LISTEN: Hear + Respond = OBEY
LOVE: Emotion + Decision = DEVOTION
“SHEMA”
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (ESV) 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
The 1000-fold blessing…
Deuteronomy 1:11 (ESV) 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!
Genesis 12:2-3 (ESV) 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Psalm 23:6 (ESV) 6“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.”
Deuteronomy 28:2 (ESV) 2“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” The blessings of God shall not just follow you around but overtake you — if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. People are working as hard as they can to try to chase down the blessings of God. But if they would just learn to trust God and rest in Him, the blessings would overtake them.
Galatians 3:14 (NKJV) 14That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Ephesians 1:3 (ESV) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Hebrews 6:13-14 (ESV) 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
Proverbs 11:25 (ESV) 25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.
Soul Tattoo: Lord, bless my heart.
Proverbs 4:20-23 (ESV) 20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:20-23 (MSG) 20Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice. 21Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart! 22Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they’re bursting with health. 23Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.
Proverbs 15:11 (NLT) 11Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord. How much more does he know the human heart!
6 Parts in the Heart:
1.) Pulmonary Valve
2.) Aortic valve
3.) Right atrium
4.) Right ventricle
5.) Left atrium
6.) Left ventricle
6 Spiritual Blockages of the Heart:
Ezekiel 36:25b-27 (NIV) 25b…I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
1.) The selfish blockage.
James 3:14-16 (NIV) 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
2.) The bitter blockage.
Luke 17:1 (NKJV) Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!
3.) The rejected blockage.
Proverbs 18:21 (NIV) 21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
4.) The evil thoughts blockage.
Mark 7:21-23 (NIV) 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
5.) The blockage of hardness.
Jeremiah 18:12 (ESV) 12 “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
Matthew 13:15 (ESV) 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
6.) The blockage of numbness.
Matthew 24:12 (NLT) 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
Soul Tattoo: Lord, bless my heart.
Steps to Transforming the Heart:
- Invite the Holy Spirit to show me.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) 23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- Invite the Holy Spirit to change me.
Psalm 51:10-11 (NIV) 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
- Invite the Holy Spirit to fill me.
Ephesians 5:18 (NIV) 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Soul Tattoo: Lord, bless my heart.
We are Blessed to Be a Blessing…
1.) To be a blessing, is knowing what the more is for.
Genesis 12:2 (NLT) “I will bless you…and you will be a blessing to others.”
2.) If we bless others, God takes care of our needs.
Luke 18:29-30 (GW) “I guarantee this. Anyone who gives up anything for the kingdom of God will certainly receive many times more in this life and will receive eternal life in the next world to come.”
3.) When God blesses us, He expects us to bless others.
Luke 12:48 (LB) “…Much is required from those to whom much is given. For their responsibility is greater.”
Soul Tattoo: Lord, bless my heart.